Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Sources, timing, and fate of sediment and contaminants in the nearshore: insights from geochemistry
Rivers in Cascade watersheds carry sediment with a volcanic composition that is distinct from the plutonic composition of the Puget lowlands. Compositional properties (signatures) allow discrimination of river-sourced Cascade from lowland sediment, and inferences about transport pathways. Surface sediment on land contains atmospheric radionuclides whose known decay rates define monthly (7Be) and d
Assessing patterns of annual change to permafrost bluffs along the North Slope coast of Alaska using high-resolution imagery and elevation models
Coastal permafrost bluffs at Barter Island, on the North Slope, Beaufort Sea Coast of Alaska are among the most rapidly eroding along Alaska’s coast, having retreated up to 132 m between 1955 and 2015. Here we quantify rates and patterns of change over a single year using very-high resolution orthophotomosaics and co-registered surface elevation models derived from a survey-grade form of structure
HyCReWW: A hybrid coral reef wave and water level metamodel
Tsunamigenic splay faults imply a long-term asperity in southern Prince William Sound, Alaska
Coseismic slip partitioning and uplift over multiple earthquake cycles is critical to understanding upper‐plate fault development. Bathymetric and seismic reflection data from the 1964 Mw9.2 Great Alaska earthquake rupture area reveal sea floor scarps along the tsunamigenic Patton Bay/Cape Cleare/Middleton Island fault system. The faults splay from a megathrust where duplexing and underplating pro
Discovery of an extensive deep-sea fossil serpulid reef associated with a cold seep, Santa Monica Basin, California
Dynamic flood modeling essential to assess the coastal impacts of climate change
Characterizing the catastrophic 2017 Mud Creek Landslide, California, using repeat Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry
Along the rugged coast of Big Sur, California, the Mud Creek landslide failed catastrophically on May 20, 2017 and destroyed over 400 m of scenic California State Highway 1. We collected structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry data using airborne platforms that, when combined with existing airborne lidar data, revealed that the area exhibited significant topographic change and displacement befo
Stream sediment geochemistry of four small drainages on the north shore of Kauai west of Hanalei
Towards determining spatial methane distribution on Arctic permafrost bluffs with an unmanned aerial system
Geochemically distinct oil families in the onshore and offshore Santa Maria basins, California
The purpose of this work is to identify genetic affinities among 48 crude oil samples from the onshore and offshore Santa Maria basins. A total of 21 source-related biomarker and stable carbon isotope ratios among the samples were assessed to assure that they were unaffected by secondary processes. Chemometric analysis of these data identifies six oil families with map and stratigraphic distributi
Morphodynamics of a field of crescent-shaped rippled scour depressions: Northern Monterey Bay, CA
Despite the prevalence of rippled scour depression (RSD) on the world's continental shelves and their importance as nursery habitats for many commercially-important species, the processes responsible for their formation and geomorphic evolution are still not well understood. Most studies that focused on RSD evolution have been based on data acquired over multiple years to decades, and often during